QUALITY TODAY

A blog dedicated to advancing healthcare quality.

On January 1, 2017 the first MACRA reporting period will begin. Considering CMS says that more than 700,000 clinicians are expected to participate in MACRA’s new reporting program next year, it is surprising and a little alarming that as recently as July of 2016, half of surveyed physicians said they had never heard of MACRA (the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015).

As we saw in the final Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) rulings the beginnning of this month, there were some changes made to performance categories. Several of those changes took place to the Clincical Practice Improvement Activities (CPIA).

As you probably realize, the PQRS reporting period is right around the corner. That means, right now, many healthcare teams are scrambling to prepare. Quality reporting is stressful. Teams are usually short on time and resources – and that makes tackling a large number of records in a limited timeframe difficult. As you think about how your team will pull together the necessary data and find the man hours to complete reporting tasks, consider these numbers related to quality reporting and Primaris:

MACRA is changing the way healthcare providers are reimbursed for care. If you are a physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist or certified registered nurse anesthetist that bills Medicare $30,000 or more annually – or you care for at least 100 Medicare patients – MACRA applies to you.

Primaris attended the MGMA 2016 Annual Conference in San Francisco October 30 – November 2. We were there to network with attendees as both exhibitors and fellow healthcare professionals confronting the complex challenges of healthcare reform.

The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) was passed in April of 2015, and from the very beginning, physicians have had conflicting feelings about the healthcare law. On one hand, nearly everyone is happy to say goodbye to the flawed Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula, so there is reason to celebrate MACRA and the replacement of SGR. On the other hand, MACRA and the Quality Payment Program (QPP) are pushing large scale changes onto physicians, and there are legitimate concerns about whether or not practices can survive in the new reimbursement era.

Primaris is the proud recipient of two honors in the2016 MarCom Awards, an international competition administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals. The awards represent work across print media, strategic communications, digital media and video.

You finally think you understand GPRO—the measures, the process, and even all the requirements. You get your entire staff team on board. You are ready to go, and then...they change the rules!

Those of you who have experience in quality reporting, know this is quite common, and there isn't much you can do about it. PQRS GPRO reporting is complex and complicated, we can all agree on that. So, when changes are constantly made, it is even more challenging. Unfortunately, you still have to report GPRO. So, the best thing you can do is be engaged by staying up to-do-date and educating yourself with the resources provided.

CMS recently released the final MACRA ruling. It contains detailed information about the Quality Payment Program (QPP) that will launch its first reporting phase in January of 2017. While it is helpful to finally have more information about the planned changes to Medicare reimbursements, the 2,000+ page final rule is not exactly light reading. Thankfully, CMS also released several other resources, like the new website for the Quality Payment Program, that offer need-to-know details in easier to digest portions.